Families of Hamas hostages warn time running out as hostage talks resume

TEL AVIV, Israel (NewsNation) — Families are increasingly concerned that time is running out for hostages, as U.S., Israel, and Qatar officials resume negotiating a new deal with Hamas, with nearly 130 people still held in Gaza.

The inadvertent killing of three hostages by the Israel Defense Forces has intensified pressure for a negotiated resolution. With those hostages in Gaza held for more than 70 days, there’s a growing urgency to find a solution on the ground.

Two weeks ago, Israelis withdrew their negotiators, citing an impasse. Hamas has expressed it’s open to talks only after the Israelis halt their attacks.

“We reiterate that there will be no negotiations of hostage exchange until the aggression completely stops,” said Osama Hamdan, a Hamas official. “In return, we’re open to any initiative aimed at stopping this aggression from brothers and Qatar in Egypt and we will deal with it in accordance with steadfastness and sacrifices of our people, our resistance, vision and national Palestinian project.”

On Monday, family demonstrations took place outside of U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s meeting with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Austin intensified pressures on Israel to reduce its extensive offensive in Gaza, aiming to protect civilian lives.

“We need the international community to say out loud that this is not okay. That it is not okay that an 80-year-old man, like my father, is kept in tunnels in Gaza. We need the whole world to say it clearly,” said Noam Peri, the daughter of a hostage.

CIA Director William Burns met in Warsaw with the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency and the prime minister of Qatar on Monday, the first known meeting of the three since the temporary cease-fire ended on Dec. 1 and the release of some 100 hostages in a deal they helped broker.

But U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the talks were not “at a point where another deal is imminent.”

Netanyahu has insisted that Israel will keep fighting until it ends Hamas rule in Gaza, crushes its military capabilities and frees all the hostages taken during the Oct. 7 attack.

Meanwhile, amid Hostage talks, concerns are growing about potential repercussions for IDF troops following the accidental shooting of hostages.

IDF Lt. Col. Peter Lerner acknowledges the families’ demand for accountability but says they’re not at that stage yet.

“What we are focusing on now is continuing the battle forward,” he said. “We must be held accountable for this action, what that will actually transpire into will remain to be determined.”